Night of the Headless Horseman (New Version)
by Sparkling Lover
Summary: A refurbished version of my previous short story of the same name. Warning: Hints of blood and terror. May not be suitable for younger readers. Happy Halloween!


**(It's October already, and it's time to get ready for Halloween. Time to go find the right costume, get some candy, and tell ghost stories to all of your friends and family. Well, I must admit I still enjoy Halloween, and I can't help but get chills every time I hear a spooky story. But, one in particular has always been my favorite: The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. Out of all of the classic frightening tales, this one always comes to my mind. It might be the characters, or it might be the themes that are included, but I don't really know why. Either way, I always love listening to audio versions of this story or watch the classic Disney short adaptation; it just really depicts everything that defines terror and supernatural events, even though it isn't a true story.**

 **Now that I think about it, I think I have decided to take one of my stories and give it a little update. My original version of Night of the Headless Horseman was a short fix about a young woman who has an encounter with the headless phantom; but as I looked it over I suddenly felt it was just not that good enough for a spooky story. So, I have decided to rewrite the entire story, add new characters and add a little bit more horror. So, gather around your computer screen or mobile device, turn off the lights, close the window shades and lock the doors, because you are now about to embark on a terrifying fanfic that will leave you shivering with fear.)**

 **Annabelle, Frank, Courtney, Mark, Midnight the Horse, Terror on the Farm Attraction (C) Me**

 **The Headless Horseman (C) Washington Irving**

* * *

 **Night of the Headless Horseman (New Version)**

* * *

The night was dark, very little stars were seen above the thick, stream-lined clouds as they followed the path of time, slowly trailing to the west as the moon shone full over them all. The moon was a bright, ominous sphere of pale yellow and cream, and the light casted wary shadows below the earth, casting unknown shapes behind every tree, bush, stone and house. This very night was a time for all of the supernatural beings to leave the confines of darkness, and prowl the land of the living. Some of these beings were of harmless spirits, while others were of malicious sort; one of them was released on that very night, saddled upon its steed, waiting for the one to come across it and take them away from the realm of sanctuary and leave them in the endless limbo of the departed souls.

* * *

Sounds of people screaming and shouting in terror were heard all through out an old farm that had been converted into one of the latest and scariest Halloween Attractions in one rural area from New York City. Terror on the Farm it was called, and it certainly was. After being purchased by a three brothers from Los Angeles over a year ago, Terror on the Farm had sported almost five haunted attractions that were complete with constructed buildings that resembled either old-fashioned, traditional haunted houses, fog-filled cemeteries with huge, macabre tombstones, and horrifying butcher stores filled with gory settings. All the buildings were filled with the latest animatronic robots disguised as either zombies, witches, insane doctors or nurses; and many human actors all adorned in make up and fake blood and gashes, ready to spring up and scare the living hell out of the unlucky few who were easy prey for the jump scare.

One of the Attraction's most well-known and most frighting events was the Sleepy Hollow Hayride, a traditional horse-drawn hayride that would take guests through a path that would lead them to various spots that were fashioned with colonial houses made for the ride, actors dressed up as village folk, and fog endlessly flowing throughout the entire ride. As some would have guessed by the title, the ride was mostly based on the story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; even the driver would tell the familiar tale about the school teacher who had a horrifying encounter with a ghostly apparition known as the Headless Horseman. The story goes that the Horseman was originally a solider who had fought for the British in the Revolution, but was killed after being sent on a scouting mission. His head was shot clean off by a hidden cannon ball, and was buried somewhere in the woods nearby Sleepy Hollow...without his head. Legend says that the spirit of the Horseman would rise from his grave, atop his huge black horse, and would ride through the forest in search of his head. Those who have claimed to have spotted the ghost say that the only place that it could not go was across a white bridge that lead to an old church, and if the Horseman ever crossed it, he would burst into flames and return to his grave.

This ghost story had been an absolute favorite to a nineteen year old girl named Annabelle, a pretty, athletic girl with short brown hair who had lived in New York City for almost half of her life before her family moved to the country side because her father had found a new job as a factory worker at a manufacturing plant for a furniture store. The move was a pretty hard time for Annabelle; she was leaving behind the excitement of one of the most populous cities in America, and was leaving behind some of her childhood friends. However, there was a silver lining to the move; the house she and her family lived was next door to her Uncle and Aunt, who owned a small farm and had often asked if she could come over to lend a hand with the chores. The chores were also an excuse for Annabelle to spend time with one of her Aunt's horses: a black Friesian named Midnight. Annabelle adored Midnight because she would often talk to the horse about her issues and things that had happened, and the horse never seemed to judge or be bothered, and was very patient and sweet to the human in return.

Family aside, Annabelle had been admitted into the local school and high school later on in life, earning high honors in agriculture, science and math, and was the star track and field member of the school. Even with this reputation, she wasn't a typical Mary Sue; she had her own personality that made her unique instead of the cookie-cutter girls who had a perfect quality as she had heard of in gossip. Then again, she wasn't one to judge others.

Over the years, Annabelle had decided to wait for College and settle in by herself in a old farmhouse not to far from where she lived, and was also given Midnight as a gift from her Aunt and Uncle because there was a small stable also located there. Annabelle was happy with the home and land, but god homes had to be kept by paying the monthly rent and such, or else she would end up back with her parents. She did manage to find a job as a employee at a department store, but she was not that much happy with her decision. It was a case of working on a job you least wanted but had to keep for financial reasons.

It was when it was at the end of September and through October that her real job came. Even though she was a girl, she was hired to play the role of the Headless Horseman at the Terror on the Farm attraction because she was a skilled rider, and even though they had some horses to pose as the steed, Annabelle decided to bring Midnight to work and her boss didn't mind it at all.

Her role was a lot more exciting than the one she had at the department store; here she can scare the living hell out of customers and ride upon her horse. To say she loved it was an understatement.

Annabelle was already atop her steed, wearing the costume and holding a fake severed head, as she waited for the the sound of the tractor. It would be her cue to charge out and terrify the customers. She heard the distinctive Pop-Pop of the motor and readied herself, and patted Midnight's neck. "This is it, girl, our last run. Then, it's back home for dinner."

The horse snorted quietly and contented. Even though the animal was in an area where loud sound effects, blasting air cannons, and screams were abundant, Midnight had manage to keep a sense of composure.

Finally, grabbing hold of the reins and covering her face, Annabelle kicked at Midnight's sides and the horse galloped straight out in not the open, whinnying and snorting as the crowd screamed in fright. Annabelle kept herself close to the wagon part, but made sure to not get to close and harm herself or the horse should anything like that were to happen. After reaching out to the men, women and children in a attempt to grab them but pull away, making Midnight rear up and wave her severed head at the crowd, Annabelle finally pulled back and went back into the shadows.

"Whoo, great job, Midnight! You are getting two sugar cubes when we get home," Annabelle praised her steed and dismounted, leading Midnight back to the main preparation area. This was where a series of trailers were found; these served as the dressing rooms and make-up rooms for the actors to go and get ready for their parts in the attraction. Lucky for Annabelle, all she had to have was a costume that covered up her head, while it also allowed her to see. She came over to one trailer where clown costumes and butcher costumes were seen from the window and waited.

Soon, two boys and a girl came out, there faces clean from the make-up and in their everyday-clothing. It was her friends Mark, Frank and Courtney. They had befriended each other on separate occasions while in High School, and both of them had found seasonal jobs at Terror on the Farm.

"Hey, Annie, how was the ride?" Courtney asked. She was a skinny blonde who had freckles on her cheeks. She was hired to play a psychotic clown, and was evident by her still holding a contorted tricycle horn.

"It was great, Courtney," Annabelle answered. "Hey, I have to get changed, and could one of you watch Midnight for me?"

"I'll do it," volunteered Mark. He had a slight crush on Annabelle and did small favors for her whenever he could. However, he was scared of horses after he had been bitten by one at the age of three, and he could barely keep his eyes on Midnight without slightly shivering.

"I'll get you a coat while I am at it, you look cold." Annabelle giggled as she handed the reins over to Mark and went inside. After she was changed and in her sweater and jeans, she came out and was greeted with Mark inching back from Midnight.

"Uh, I'm just keeping my distance," Mark shyly spoke as he handed the reins to Annabelle, but was pleased to see that she had gotten him a coat. He wasn't cold, but accepted the coat all together.

"I got my folks to let me use the house while they are gone for the week, and I was wondering if you guys want to come over and chill. I have some snacks and left over candy to eat, and non-stop horror flicks to watch." Frank offered as he readjusted his glasses and cleaned them. He was the High School nerd, but was popular with the the Sci-Fi club, for he had a vast knowledge of the subject, and had a fascination for the supernatural and horror.

Mark and Courtney said that they would be there, but Annabelle held her hand up and shook her head. "I wish I could, but I have a headache like you wouldn't believe, and besides I promised Midnight two sugar cubes. Maybe I'll make up for it tomorrow," she said politely.

"You don't need to make up for it, Annie," Frank smiled in understanding. "Go home and take care of that headache of yours."

Annabelle thanked Frank and mounted her horse. Even though she had a car, she would ride on Midnight to get to places, but only around the holidays. After all, it wasn't everyday a that you would see a girl riding a horse in a society where cars and trucks were the main source of transportation, and there were times she was thought to have been Amish to some people who saw her.

As her horse trotted out the gates and through the parking lot, Annabelle saw that the road leading to the route to her home was busy with cars driving down, and it would be impossible for her to pass. So, she thought outside the box and decided to head for another path. This path question was a nearby park that was a few mints away from the attraction, and there was a path that was perfect for her and Midnight to travel on, and it would lead them to a clearing to her home.

"Let's go take the scenic route, Midnight, the spooky scenic route," Annabelle giggled as she turned her horse to the direction of the park and trotted away.

* * *

The forest trail the young woman and horse went through was dark with sparse sources of light peering through some small cracks in the branches and leaves that still clung on to the branches, and arcsin sounds echoed from somewhere further down the trail. Crickets squeaked from time to time, and the occasional call of an Owl were all that Annabelle could hear.

Even though she had worked with a business that dwelled in terrifying people for fun and amusement, this trail she had decided to take was not amusing or fun at all. The scares from where she worked were all staged and prepped; this was real life and the sounds were not recorded, and there was no actors or animatronics were hiding in the shadows.

The hooves of Midnight made the leaves underneath crackle and snap as she made her way, her eyes darting about as if she was in great danger. Despite being domesticated, there was still that wild instinct of fight-or-flight response that lay in the animal's spirit, and the very darkness and eerie atmosphere made that hidden instinct awake from it's dormant hibernation.

Annabelle could feel her steed's body shake with fear and she patted the horse's neck and cooed, "Easy, girl, we will be home soon...I hope.."

Further and further down the path and the moon's light disappeared as the branches of the tree's closed in around the path, forming a tube-like formation that was large enough for the rider and horse to walk through. All the sounds suddenly came to a silent halt, leaving Annabelle in total eerie silence.

"Gee whiz. Why did I think about going through here? I should have stayed back and waited for the traffic to clear, I knew I should have done that." Annabelle cursed under her breath. Her complaint seemed to unleash a curse on the darkness, and before she realized it, Annabelle and her steed came into a area that was lighted by the moon and the branches had unclenched from their intertwined embrace.

All around them, there was no sign of life and no sign of movement. It almost seemed to appear as though time had completely stopped, leaving all in its path frozen. No sound, no wind, nothing.

A frightful nicker from Midnight got Annabelle's attention and she looked down at her horse, seeing that the horse was looking and backing away from something over to the far left. Annabelle petted Midnight in comfort as she looked in the direction her horse was looking at, and almost thought that she was seeing things.

There, standing motionless as a arcane and ancient statue was a large figure; the figure of what appeared to be a human atop a large black horse. Annabelle could easily tell the breed of the horse due to it's huge size and characteristic feathering on the ankles. A black Shire. But, what was a rider and a Shire doing out here in the middle of the night? In the middle of the witching hour of Halloween, to be more precise.

"Hello? Sir, or Miss? Are you lost?" Annabelle called out, but the rider made no reply. At first Annabelle that that maybe it was someone else that had gotten lost just like she, but then she thought that it was probably one of her friends dressed up as the Headless Horseman, because she could see that the rider had no head. She then smirked as she urged Midnight forward and slowly came up to the figure. "Mark, is that you? You look great in that costume. Maybe you can take my job next year," she joked, but the rider was silent.

"Come on, Mark, I know it is you. Stop with the charade," Annabelle said in annoyance when she got no reply, but then she felt Midnight shift away slightly. "Midnight, calm down,".

The horse was shaking like an earthquake, and her eyes were almost blood-shot with fear. "Midnight, what has gotten into you?" Annabelle questioned as she caressed her steed's neck once again; she was very concerned about her friend. Her concern for her horse was suddenly usurped when her ears picked up a mot unusual and macabre sound, a sound she only heard in pre-recordings made for Haunted Houses and films.

A faint, whispery gurgle emitted from somewhere close to the mystery, silent rider. Annabelle once more turned her head to the strange figure, now getting a very good look at him or her. The rider's attire was incredibly different from the costume she had worn for the Terror on the Farm attraction: The cloak was long, tattered and torn with cuts. The uniform was covered in dust and a moldy type of residue, with dark brown and red stains coating the sides and lower half. The pants were in a similar state as the uniform, but was stained with a dark green moss and fallen dead leaves. The boots were aged and signs of cracks and seams snapping were noticeable.

The gurgling noise was still heard in a faint whisper, and Annabelle made her horse move around to where it came from. The noise came from the right of the rider, and the young woman could see an object held firmly in the rider's hand. Upon further inspection, Annabelle discovered that this object was...a decapitated head. At first, her logic told her that it must had been a prop, but her logic had failed her when her nose picked up a scent. Aside from the gurgling, this smell was now painting a new picture for Annabelle; a picture that was to reveal the true identity of the mystery rider. The smell was metallic, pungent with rot.

"B...Blood..." Annabelle tried to speak, but her voice was caught with sudden horror. The head was real, and the severed half was leaking real blood, and the gurgling was coming straight from the dead head's mouth. "Oh, my god...my god..." Her body became frozen with shock and fear. She knew who this was.

The Headless Horseman.

All at once, the Horseman pulled back on the reins of his steed, and Annabelle watched as the eyes of the giant black horse glow a fiery red. The horse then reared up, whinnying with a dark, monstrous cry as it was then joined by the moans and yells of the decapitated head.

Annabelle wasted no time in reacting; she turned Midnight around and kicked at the horse's sides, and the horse broke into a fleeing gallop. Midnight was almost as terrified as her master, and she ran faster than she ever had in her life.

Annabelle continued to kick at Midnight's sides to make her go faster, while she kept turned her head to see if the Headless Horseman was behind them. Sure enough, the large stallion of the Headless rider was seen charging after them, at the exact speed as Midnight. "No! go away!" Annabelle shouted, but her shouts where in vain. Their pursuer continued to follow after them, the hooves of the giant horse slamming into the earth and making the very shake underneath.

"Faster, Midnight, faster!" Annabelle shouted again as she made a turn around a large oak tree and through a dense path of dry branches. She shielded her face to avoid being whipped and clawed at by the branches as she went through; the Horseman and his steed payed no heed to the branches. "You got to be kidding me!" Annabelle turned to see her chaser still following behind and she made her steed run though another path that was filled with large rocks and boulders, hoping that the Headless rider would not pass. Midnight veered and turned left and right, making her way through the rocks with ease.

"Good girl, Midnight, you are going to have a whole bunch of apples when we get home!" Annabelle practically hugged Midnight around the neck as they came to a stop at the end of the path, with no sign of the Headless Horseman.

Just then, a loud crash and a thundering roar sounded from somewhere between the rocks and boulders, and to Annabelle shock, the Headless Horseman's steed plowed right through the path, it's dinner plate-sized hooves crushing the rocks and boulders into mere pebble and crumbled fragments. Annabelle screamed as she kicked at Midnight to go, but not before she felt a sharp pull from behind her horse. She turned and saw the black horse had it's mouth clamped onto Midnight's flank, holding her there. "Hey, leave her alone!" Annabelle shouted defiantly as she freed a foot from her stirrups and kicked at the horse's nose, and the black steed snorted and let go.

"Let's get going, Midnight!" They were off once more, but were still in the sight of the Headless Horseman. No matter how much Annabelle tried she just couldn't get the evil creature off her tail. Even worse she had no idea where she was going. Everything around her seemed foreign and unfamiliar as she and Midnight fled further and further into the dark forest. "What are we going to do? There has to be a way out!"

In that moment, Annabelle swore that she had been seeing a mirage. But, this mirage was not a facade; it was real. She knew the story of the Headless Horseman, and the very solution to her situation was standing just a few feet away. A white church and a bridge that led to a clearing. But, she then remembered that there was no church around the area, but she didn't care. All that she cared for now was her life.

"Head for the bridge, Midnight, we will be safe!" Annabelle could feel the wind blowing furiously into her face as her horse dashed over to the bridge, and almost began to cry tears of joy as she heard and felt Midnight's hooves making contact with the wood underneath. The forest was now far behind them as was the monster behind them.

Annabelle then brought her horse to a stop as she turned around to be sure that she had lost the Headless Horseman. What a terrible decision she had made. No sooner had her head made contact with the bridge, she saw the black horse rearing up and the rider rising up in his stirrups. And in almost a mere second, Annabelle hardly had time to react as the rider flung the decapitated head right at her, and the head slammed straight into her face, plunging her down upon the ground with a hard thud.

* * *

"Annabelle? Annabelle?" said a concerned voice as Annabelle slowly came to her senses. She could feel her head spinning, and her eyes seemed to be covered with a misty film. But after she had rubbed her eyes to clear them, she found herself back in her bedroom with Courtney, Mark and Frank standing around her.

"What happened? How did I get here?" she asked, her voice quiet and faint.

"That's what we want to know," Frank answered. "We came over to your house to check on you, but when we knocked you didn't answer. But then we saw Midnight whinnying at us, and she still had a saddle and reins on her."

"We thought that something happened to you, and we followed your horse. She led to us to the outskirts of the park," added Courtney as she sat down to stroke Annabelle's head. "-and that's when we found you lying on the ground, face first. We were so worried that we thought you were dead, but we then heard you groaning."

"So, why didn't you take me to a hospital?" Annabelle asked as she sat up and stretched, even though her head still hurt.

"We checked you over but we didn't see anything severe. No cuts, bruises or anything of the sort. No broken bones either." Mark answered. "But, what we don't know is how it happened. How did you get yourself knocked out?"

Annabelle had to think very hard about this, because she could barely remember what had happened last night. Suddenly it came back to her and she answered, "I was chased by the Headless Horseman. I swear, I was."

"You got to be nuts. It was probably kids playing a prank," Mark said aloud, but Annabelle replied with a hint of seriousness to her voice.

"It wasn't any kids! I saw a rider out there in the woods without a head...No!..He had a head, but he was carrying it in one hand. I swear, I know what it was and it was the Headless Horseman," She tried to continue but Courtney had her lay down on the bed as she got out her phone.

"Maybe we should take you to the hospital." she said under her breath, but Annabelle growled.

"I am not insane. You guys have to believe me. I know it's crazy, but I know that there was a Headless Horseman in the woods last night, and I was being chased by him. I even had to cross the bridge by the white church just to get away."

Her friends then became quiet and stared at her with looks of confusion. "A white church and a bridge? There wasn't a church, nor a bridge when we found you, Annabelle." Frank said.

"But, there was," Annabelle was quiet for a moment before she remembered something important, something that could be proof to show that she had been pursued by the Headless Horseman. "Wait, what about Midnight? When you saw her, did she have a wound on her?"

Courtney answered by saying that she had seen a mark on Midnight's flank, but she believed that it might have been from some animal. Annabelle said that she had remembered seeing her horse being bitten by the steed of the evil monster, but Frank had interrupted by saying that when they found her they only found hoof prints that were made by Midnight.

Annabelle didn't know what to think, nor did she know what else to say. She was already seeing that her friends were hardly taking her words seriously, other than the bite wound found on Midnight's flank, but she was still sure that what she saw was real. How else could she repeat the whole story without making herself sound like she was losing her mind?

Just as she was thinking this, Mark had been browsing his phone at some pictures he had taken and had stopped at one picture he had taken. It was a photo of the discovery of Annabelle outside the park. He had no idea why he had taken it, but as he looked it over he saw something very odd in the picture. "Hey, check this out," he said and came over to the bed, laying his phone down to let everyone view the screen.

In the picture was Annabelle lying face down on the ground, but in the background of the forest, just vaguely seen...was a very, very faint figure hiding among the tree's. It appeared to look like a rider upon a large horse, and the rider had...no head. Neither of them said a word after that day, neither did they ever talk about it even to this day. What ever it was that Annabelle had encountered that night was there, but could only be spotted upon nights when the world was given over tot he beings of the supernatural.

* * *

 ***Authors Note***

 **(Now that is what I call a scary story. I had a very good time re-wroking my old published short story, and I am sure that you will enjoy this new refurbished one. Please, let me know how it was when you are done reading. Sparkling Lover out. Happy Halloween!)**


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